A Promise of Protection
by Spyder Webb
Summary: The rating may go up eventually. He's found a light in his darkness, can this light find his freedom? Please ignore the extra chapters.
1. Prologue

Since there are new rules, I have updated everything without fun author notes. So no more muses. Sorry.  
  
[A Promise of Protection]  
  
Warnings: Um, none so far. Pairings: There might not be any, but you all know that I don't write het. Author Notes: More information as story develops.  
  
Prologue  
  
He was surrounded by darkness, but over the time he'd spent here, floating in this vast nothingness, he'd grown used to it. It was almost. . .comforting now.  
  
Time passed without a second thought. He had all the time in the world, yet he had none. Time was an insignificant factor in his existence. The darkness gave no hint to whether it was day or night, nor did he care. The domineering blackness that surrounded him never changed or shifted, but just lingered around him, touching him with a cool featherlike caress every now and then as if to just be there to remind him that he could still feel.  
  
There was no sound either, just complete silence, and sometimes the silence seemed so deafeningly loud that he was almost forced to cover his ears. He had forgotten what a human voice sounded like, for he had forgotten his own. Whenever he had tried to speak, before having long given up, he's voice had been lost within the darkness, along with his soul.  
  
He had once prayed to whatever god was listening that someone would come and awaken him from the trance like sleep he had been forced to place himself in, if not lose his sanity first. Those prayers, obviously having been a waste of energy he didn't need, had gone unheard, or ignored, or perhaps even laughed at.  
  
His memories had faded to shady figures and now, among time and space, his own universe, his everything and yet nothing, he couldn't even remember why he was here. A punishment, but for what? What had he done so wrong to be placed in eternal darkness?  
  
No one deserved this fate, even though he knew he had acted indifferent to the sentence, it was his nature to look in the face of death and laugh. He wondered if he was missed. Had he had a family? A wife perhaps, children? Had he been but a child? Nothing, all his memories, even of himself and those closest to him, gone.  
  
Only one memory remained clear, besides the one of the darkness that was his new home.  
  
A boy, clearly marked of importance, stood before him, deadly eyes glaring, daring him to make a move. A voice, echoing in his empty mind accompanied the image, and he suspected it to be the boy he saw. 'You must be punished for your crimes thief, and the only punishment is one that fits the crime. You, tomb robber, are to be banished inside this Ring for the rest of eternity, until this world comes to an end. Unless you find the other half to your soul.' The image moved, and the boy smirked, 'But someone as coldhearted as you doesn't have a soul.' And then the image dissolved before his mind's eye, leaving only the darkness to remain.  
  
That stupid pharaoh. . .  
  
Now he remembered. He had been a great tomb robber, if not the greatest in Egypt at the time. He'd stolen a sacred treasure and had been ratted out by one of his own conspirators to the oh mightiest of pharaohs.  
  
His soul, which had been ripped from his body with an antagonizing force, had been placed within the ring, leaving his soulless body to whither away to dust, or eaten by wild dogs that roamed the deserts of Egypt.  
  
He remembered the hate. He hated the pharaoh with his entire soul, which was all of him. He would make the pharaoh pay one way or another. He'd get out of this prison. He'd find a way.  
  
To Be Continued. . .  
  
So, should I continue?  
  
:p You know I will even if you won't want me to anyway. ^_^ 


	2. Chapter One

How boring...no muses.  
  
[A Promise of Protection]  
  
Warnings: Um, none so far. Pairings: There might not be any, but you all know that I don't write het. Author Notes: I'm sorry if I confuse anyone about the 'darkness'!! I confused myself!  
  
Chapter One  
  
He was startled into consciousness by a presence. There was something else within the darkness besides him, and he'd never felt that before. And he felt it. . .inside himself. His eyes opened to stare into the darkness that he had grown accustomed to seeing, but a silent gasp of surprise escaped his mouth as he quickly shut his eyes against the brightness in front of him.  
  
There was a light! A light in his world of darkness. But how? Why? Did it come from that presence that seemed oddly familiar and yet strange at the same time? Slowly, he opened his eyes again and forced himself to keep them open. The light was so close he could almost touch it and he felt himself reaching for it and he gasped again. He could feel his own eyes widen as he stared at the object in front of him.  
  
It was a hand.  
  
His hand.  
  
A hand that he hadn't seen since. . .he didn't know. Slowly, he looked down and realized that this light, this gift, was giving him a chance to see. He could see himself; he was no longer blind to the darkness of this realm. And the light, it was rather warm and felt good against his skin.  
  
Time slid by as it stood still and the light never faltered or grew brighter. He had figured that this presence, this light, was his other half. Before him was the other half of his soul he'd been missing. He smirked as he thought of the words the pharaoh had said to him. He'd found the half of his soul that supposedly didn't exist.  
  
Just wait Pharaoh.  
  
. . .  
  
The longer the light was there, the more agitated he became. All this 'other half' did was sit there and seem to taunt him. If it was there to help him escape this prison why hadn't it done so? If this was, in fact, his other, why couldn't he communicate with it?  
  
He was beginning to hate this light. It seemed to laugh at him, and nobody walked away alive having laughed at him. Inwardly, he cursed at the brightness, damning it to the underworld for that was all he could do.  
  
The brightness became almost unbearably annoying as it shined on him. He was beginning to wish that it would disappear and the darkness would surround him once more. But wishing, like praying, was futile and only a waste of his useless energy for the light stayed.  
  
Just when he felt that his sanity, what little left remained, was about to slip away, the light grew brighter. So bright that it caused him to close his eyes tightly. He felt a tug. At first he almost couldn't feel it at all, but as the light became even brighter, causing pain in his mind, the tugging grew into pulling and he could feel his mass moving.  
  
Finally, when he thought he was going to scream in agony, the intensity of the light dimmed drastically and the piercing pain left him. Cautiously, he cracked an eye open. There was still light, but it was at a manageable level now, so he opened his other eye. A gasp escaped his mouth as he spied the area around him. He was in a room, painted a light blue and on the walls was Egyptian people, as well as hieroglyphics. The hieroglyphics spelt out a lullaby that he could vaguely remember his own mother singing to him before she died.  
  
His dark eyes traveled to what looked to be a bed in one corner of the room, but it was not made of wood and rags as his own had been. But rich fabrics that looked warm and soft, and the bed itself was that of metal. He felt as if he was being watched and he noticed a pair of beady eyes staring at him from the head of the bed. It was a stuffed camel that also looked soft to the touch.  
  
Knowing that this wasn't his world, he turned around to see more, but instead he jumped back in shock. The camel hadn't been the only one watching him, he realized as he stared in front of him.  
  
Right into large brown eyes.  
  
To Be Continued. . . 


	3. Chapter Two

Do I really have to say it again?  
  
[A Promise of Protection]  
  
Warnings: Um, none so far. Pairings: There might not be any, but you all know that I don't write het. Author Notes: I'm sorry if I confuse anyone about the 'darkness'!! I confused myself!  
  
Chapter Two  
  
He watched as the pretty brown eyes blinked questioningly, and he noticed that they held surprise and amazement. "Hi." A soft voice escaped from the being before him, though he could only stare into its eyes. "Are. . .you a ghost?"  
  
The question woke him from his stupor and he opened his mouth to snap at the figure, but he found he had no voice. After clearing his throat and having a snarky remark on the tip of his tongue he looked back at the creature, only to stop short. A pale boy stood before him, his brown eyes wide and innocent, and his hair, white and long. This boy. . .looked just like him.  
  
Except he was obviously younger. And his features were softer, more feminine and it was obvious that this child was shy by the way he was standing with his hands clasped in front of him and by the way he'd lightly shift from foot to foot.  
  
"Are you a ghost?" The boy repeated quietly.  
  
"No." He said.  
  
"Oh. Then. . .who are you?" The boy wondered.  
  
"I'm. . .not sure." He replied, realizing that he couldn't remember his own name. It had never occurred to him that he couldn't remember, he'd never even thought about it. Shaking his head he looked at the boy. "Who are you?" His voice was rough and dry, the result of misuse.  
  
The boy brightened slightly, "My name's Ryou." He replied. "How old are you?" He wondered curiously, staring up at the figure before him.  
  
"I'm not sure of that either. . ." He realized he didn't know the year. Time had obviously passed on the outside of his Ring, which he realized, with an annoyed look, hung around this boy's neck. "I was fifteen when I was trapped in that." He said, pointing to the object.  
  
Ryou looked down at the Ring his father had given him from one of his many trips. "Oh, I'm five." The boy replied as he looked up at the being again.  
  
Five? His other half was five? "What year is this?"  
  
Ryou blinked in confusion, "I don't know. I can only count to 100." He explained, "My mama would know." He said and was about to run out of the room when he was yanked back. "Ow! That hurt." He whimpered as he rubbed the area on his arm where the strange boy had grabbed him.  
  
He rolled his eyes at the weakness. "Nobody must know about me." He tried to explain, never having had any experience with small children. "The adults won't believe you." He said.  
  
"Oh. . .okay." Ryou nodded. "There's a calendar on the wall right there that has the year." He replied softly, pointing at the wall.  
  
He looked, "I don't understand the language." He realized.  
  
Ryou blinked, "Oh. . .okay." He said and looked up at the calendar. "19, 92."  
  
He nodded though it didn't tell him anything, then looked down into those brown eyes again. "Are we in Egypt?" He asked.  
  
Ryou shook his head, "No, we're in England. . .my daddy just left for Egypt though. . .that's where the Millennium Ring came from." He said, holding up the Ring slightly.  
  
England. Strange name, though in explained the boy's weird accent.  
  
"Did your. . .father say anything about that Ring?" He questioned.  
  
Ryou looked down at his Ring. "He said it came from Ancient Egypt, 5000 years ago." 5000 years ago he'd been sealed with that Ring. 5000 years had passed, how much of it had been saved? Everyone he'd ever known, not that he cared, was long since dead, and that included that idiotic pharaoh.  
  
He looked at the boy again. "I'm going back into the Ring." He said, "But I want to learn about this world. If you'll teach me, then I will explain things about myself to you." He promised.  
  
Ryou was silent, then nodded, "Okay." He said, unsure of how this boy was going to go back into the Ring. He still wasn't sure how he'd come out of it in the first place. As he watched though, the body seemed to dissolve and he was left alone in the middle of his room. "Hey! Where'd you go?" He wondered out loud, hoping for an answer.  
  
/ I'm in the Ring. / He heard a voice echo inside his head.  
  
"The Ring?"  
  
/ You don't have to speak out loud. If you just think what you want to say, then I'll be able to hear you. /  
  
// You mean like this? //  
  
/ Yes, exactly like that. /  
  
// Oh, okay. // The boy nodded as he heard his name being called.  
  
"Ryou! Come on honey, it's time for school!"  
  
"Okay Mama!" Ryou called back as he raced from the room, the Millennium Ring slapping against his stomach as he moved.  
  
To Be Continued. . . 


End file.
